Friends!
I am honored and humbled to be stepping into the role of Board Chair of LIFT-LA and am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to help even more families with our exciting new focus on scale and commitment to changing the system that traps so many in poverty.
I am thankful to Vicky Story, LIFT-LA’s board chair emeritus and my co-chair for her continuous leadership and support, and so energized by our incredible new executive director, Chloe Oliveras. And I continue to be in awe of the big-hearted force of nature that is LIFT’s CEO, Michelle Rhone-Collins. We are going places! We’re sparking great change together along the way, and I’m so moved to be on the journey.
When I joined the board in 2021, it was because I was struck by LIFT’s philosophy: listening deeply, trusting parents to lead, and investing in families not as charity, but as a catalyst for lasting change. I also have a strong pull to help families in a tangible way right here in Los Angeles. And wow has our community been through a lot as of late — dehumanizing ICE raids, rising costs, and reduced food assistance from paused SNAP funding have left families struggling to find ways to stretch already limited budgets.
These are the times we need to stand up for one another and dig deep. I am so inspired by LIFT-LA’s entrepreneur program, something unique to Los Angeles, because we’re not only walking alongside parents as they navigate today’s many challenges, but also investing in their future as business leaders. I have seen firsthand their commitment to growing and pushing themselves – showing up after long days of work to take part in business workshops, learning from local leaders, and supporting one another through the process. Their success will not only strengthen their own families, but ultimately our entire community.
Baked into my DNA is a deep desire to help and serve others, which comes from my faith, and my mother, who started a homeless shelter in her community, among countless acts of giving in large and small ways. In ways that are acknowledged and in ways that no one is aware of – not for the glory of recognition, but simply for the act of helping. She instilled in me that we are responsible for our community, we must stay dedicated to one another, we are obligated to lift each other up, we must give each other hope, we must treat each other with respect, we must show everyone love.
These are the qualities my wife Liz and I are working to instill in our son Wilder, who even at a young age, gets it. Because it’s simple – Hope. Money. Love. Yes. Yes. Yes. And as we look ahead, I’m excited that LIFT-LA is not only continuing our deep 1:1 work with families — the work that changes the trajectory of a parent’s life — but also beginning to lift those lessons into systems, so more families can experience the stability and dignity they deserve. This widening of our reach is simply another way of living out the same belief: families know what they need, and when we invest in them, our whole community rises.
With love and gratitude,
Alison Rou
LIFT-LA Board Chair